St. Louis, US · 21 months · class of 95
WashU Olin MBA: cost, salary and payback
A St. Louis program whose class of 2024 split evenly between finance and technology, and whose cost page leaves out living expenses.
Paid back after graduation in
6.8 years
Total cost $287,920 · 10-year NPV -$13,780
| Tuition and fees, whole program | $150,920 |
| Living budget | $0 |
| Salary given up, 21 months | $157,500 |
| Summer internship earned | −$20,500 |
| Total cost | $287,920 |
| Salary after: median base salary | $126,000 |
| 10-year net present value | -$13,780 |
| Return on the cost (present values) | -5% |
US dollars at the ECB rate of the last update. Raises of 5% a year with the MBA and 3% without, discounted at 5%, before tax. The school publishes no living budget: the figure above is yours. How this is calculated.
Fees and budget read on October 13, 2026 · employment: Class of 2024 (school standard) · Built by Radif Partners · Method
- Tuition and fees
- $150,920
- Total cost, salary given up included
- n/a
- median base salary
- $126,000
- Payback, reference person
- not computable
The full-time MBA at Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, costs $145,400 in tuition and $5,520 in program, student government and wellness fees over four semesters, $150,920 in all for students entering in fall 2026, and the school says these rates usually rise each year. It publishes no living budget, so the total cost for a person earning $90,000 today cannot be completed, and this site shows no payback or ten-year value. That person would give up $157,500 of salary over the 21 months, more than the tuition and fees together. The latest report, for the class of 2024, gives a median base salary of $126,000. What sets Olin apart is balance: finance and technology each took 30.8% of hires, and every graduate who accepted a job stayed in North America.
Finance and technology, side by side
The class of 2024 divided almost exactly between two industries: 30.8% into financial services and the same share into technology. They do not pay alike. Technology paid a median of $142,000, finance $120,000, below the school-wide figure of $126,000, which makes finance the slower path to repay the degree. Healthcare is the third industry at 9.6%, at $125,000. Consulting firms hired only 5.8% of the class, at $90,000, yet 15.4% hold a consulting job by function, most of them inside companies rather than at consulting firms. A candidate aiming at a large consulting firm will find more of a pipeline in our consulting ranking.
WashU Olin: where the class went
Share of the class
5.8%
| Salary reported | $90,000 |
| Graduates, about | 6 |
| Payback with that salary | n/a |
Reference person earning $90,000 before the MBA.
A salary one class older than most
Olin's most recent public report covers the class of 2024; 57 of the 75 schools on this site already publish a later class. The median of $126,000 is therefore a year behind its peers, and only 2 of the 32 American schools here report a lower one. Part of the gap may come from the class itself: students arrive with 4.3 years of work on average, the least of any American school on this site. That same profile cuts the salary given up: someone earning less than $90,000 today forgoes less, so type your own figure in the calculator. On placement in the United States the school does well, number 3 of 39 in our US ranking, since all reported hires stayed in North America.
No living budget, so no payback here
The cost page lists tuition and fees semester by semester and stops there: no rent, food, insurance or transport. Without that line, the payback cannot be computed, and Olin sits outside our salary-based rankings even though its salary is known. You can complete it yourself: price a St. Louis rent and living costs for 21 months and type the sum in the Living budget field at the top, then the calculator shows the total and the payback on the $126,000 median. The summer internship paid a median of $8,200 a month, though the school does not say for which class, and the calculator subtracts it from the salary you give up.
The salary you give up while you study
Salary given up, net of the internship
$157,500
| Gross salary not earned | $157,500 |
| Per month away | $7,500 |
Pension contributions and raises you would have had are not counted here.
Where WashU Olin stands in our rankings
- #3 of 39 · Working in the United States
Our fit score, reference person earning $90,000 before the MBA (method). Third-party rankings play no part in it. For reference, WashU Olin was ranked 37 in the FT Global MBA 2026.
What the WashU Olin MBA costs
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition, whole program | $145,400 |
| Mandatory fees | $5,520 |
| Living budget | not published |
WashU Olin employment report: Class of 2024
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median base salary | $126,000 |
| Summer internship, per month (median) | $8,200 |
| Graduates who accepted an offer within three months | 78% |
WashU Olin graduates by industry
| Industry, as the school names it | Share | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Services | 30.8% | $120,000 |
| Technology | 30.8% | $142,000 |
| Health Care | 9.6% | $125,000 |
| Consulting | 5.8% | $90,000 |
| Manufacturing | 5.8% | $125,000 |
| Consumer Packaged Goods + Retail | 5.7% | not published |
| Real Estate + Other | 5.7% | not published |
| Energy | 3.8% | not published |
| Government | 1.9% | not published |
Where WashU Olin graduates went to work
| Region | Share | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| US (US Mid-Atlantic + US Midwest + US Northeast + US South + US Southwest + US West) | 100% | not published |
WashU Olin graduates by job function
| Function | Share | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Finance/Accounting | 38.5% | $134,900 |
| General Management | 17.3% | $129,000 |
| Consulting | 15.4% | $112,000 |
| Other | 11.5% | $130,000 |
| Operations/Logistics | 9.6% | $118,000 |
| Marketing/Sales | 7.7% | $130,000 |
Employers named by WashU Olin
Amazon · Apollo Global Management · Apple · Bank of America · Boeing · Capital One · EY-Parthenon · JPMorgan Chase & Co. · Mastercard · Microsoft · Moelis & Company · Roland Berger
Names only: the school gives no hire counts.
The WashU Olin class
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| International students | 47% |
| Women | 44% |
| Average years of work experience | 4.3 |
| GMAT average | 702 |
| Class size | 95 |
Not published by WashU Olin in the documents we read: a living budget for students. We leave these blank rather than fill them with an estimate.